


Kyouka Suigetsu

by Tshilaba



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Drugs, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD, Reincarnation, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-17
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-03-07 21:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3184562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tshilaba/pseuds/Tshilaba
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zoe deals with her PTSD by falling into the world of drugs and alcohol.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He sighed and leaned back against the wall, relaxing only slightly as Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" filled his ears through the ear buds connected to his iPod. _Dammit. Slow nights are always a pain in the ass._

In a town like Lebanon, Kansas, one often had to wonder if a jail was even necessary. Even Levi himself wouldn't have taken the job if not for the debt he owed the chief, Erwin Smith. But nights like this... Sure there were bored teenagers trying to have fun, but usually they only got a slap to the wrist. This _was_ a small town. There was little to do; mostly just old geezer filled country clubs. But on a Thanksgiving night? They'd be lucky to get one apprehension tonight.

"Hey, Levi?" The blond working that night, Mike Zacharius, was the reason they didn't need a drug dog for the once-in-a-blue-moon drug bust. The man had a stronger nose than a bloody German Shepherd. He was looking at Levi curiously.

The raven contemplated filtering his irritation, but decided against it. Mike had known him for years after all. So he sighed in near exasperation and paused his music. "What is it?"

"Why're you here tonight?" the blond asked. "I'd've thought you'd be with your family."

Blue eyes narrowed dangerously. Even he should know better than to bring up _that_.

"Sorry, man," he said, holding up his hands as if he was sincerely apologetic. "I just figured you wouldn't wanna be stuck here tonight of all nights."

"Erwin called in a...favor."

"Ah..."

"Hey! No need to be so fuckin' rough! Despite whatcha think, I'm still barely a hundred pounds!"

"Oh, shut up."

A figure stumbled into the booking room. They couldn't have been more than fifteen or sixteen and had very... _messy_ brown hair slung up into a ponytail, with a majority falling back down. There were smudges of dirt on their face and clothes, even grass sticking out of their hair, glasses slipping off their nose, complete with clothes that likely would have fallen off of Mike, and he had to be a good foot taller than them. Hell, Levi figured, _he_ was probably taller them.

"This one was resisting arrest. Underage possession." He tossed the baggie and pipe onto the desk.

"What the hell did ya expect me to do? Ya threw me to the ground without an explanation!" the brunet snapped, their eyes flashing angrily.

"Nile, what has Erwin told you about that?" Mike asked, folding his hands in front of him.

"Whatever." Nile rubbed his nose and Levi noticed a small trail of dried blood on his upper lip.

The raven snorted. "Got you good, huh?"

"Shut up," Nile muttered. "They're all yours. I'm going back on patrol," he said, walking out the room.

"Come on," Levi said, walking into the next room. He pulled a clipboard out of the file cabinet. "Name?"

"Zoe Hange," the brunet said boredly.

"You're a girl?"

"If by that ya mean I have a uterus, than yeah."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Moving on. Birth date?"

"September 5, 1997."

He froze. _That's the same day she was born. It can't be possible...can it?_ "That makes you fifteen then."

"Oh, we can do basic subtraction, how marvelous."

"Cut the smartass comments. You're underage and possessing blunts and a crack pipe. Are you drunk?"

"Yep."

Well, blunt honesty was certainly a first, he thought. "Are you stupid? Carrying that paraphanalia on you, it's like you _wanted_ to get caught."

"Maybe I did."

He paused in writing then and looked at her. She was staring at her shoes and her voice had seemed...quieter than before. His frown deepened slightly. What teenager wanted to get busted for underage possession? "Why?"

She shrugged almost nonchalantly, as if she'd made a comment about the weather.

He shook his head and set the clipboard down before turning to the girl. "Turn around so I can unlock your handcuffs."

"Yeah, whatever."

The lock clicked quietly and he slipped the handcuffs from her wrists and tossed them onto the counter. He noticed red marks peeking out from under her pale fingers as she rubbed her wrists gingerly, grimacing slightly. _Dawk's gonna get us shit from the state_ , he thought as he made a mental note to inform Erwin of the other officer's...procedures. "Alright," he said, "now, since you admitted to being drunk--"

"A breathalyzer is nowhere near as accurate as a blood test," she said, interrupting him and quickly becoming a snarky brat once more.

"Yeah, well, you wanna go up to fuckin' Smith Center to do a blood test? Coz I sure as hell don't." She simply shrugged, so he pointed at the machine and said, "Okay, smartass, you know what to do. Do it."

She smirked slightly before doing as she was told and blowing hard into the mouthpiece.

The machine beeped.

Levi looked at the read out and couldn't help the look of shock that slipped onto his face. .27. " How the hell are you still conscious right now? I mean you can't be more than ninety pounds."

She shrugged, still grinning. "I guess I just hold my alcohol well. At least until it decides to come out anyway."

"Right..." He jotted down the notes. Setting the pen down, he pulled open a nearby drawer and took out a cup and a syringe. "Take off your jacket."

"Okay." She shrugged out of the article and tossed it onto the counter before leaning onto it and crossing her arms over her chest. She watched him quietly. She was likely so used to this spiel she voucould go through it with her eyes closed. "A urinalysis'll be inaccurate," she said suddenly, causing his hand to twitch in irritation. "It'll only register the alcohol that's been in my system for about forty minutes or more. Alcohol gets metabolized into the bloodstream far faster than it gets excreted into urine."

"You wanna do this then, smartass?" he replied, holding the syringe out to her. "I'll need two anyway, since you have drugs as well."

She laughed and looked at the needle glinting in the fluorescent light. "Yanno I can't legally. But I can help. Here." With that, she held out her right arm, flicking a point near the crease of her elbow. She rubbed her fingers across the skin for a moment thoughtfully before saying, "The vein's near the surface now. Right here." She held her index finger just alongside a bluish line meandering down her arm.

Her intelligence couldn't quite cover the possibility of drug injections, especially when she appeared to have modified the standard method to suit herself. He placed his right hand under her forearm to steady it and slid the needle point into the vein, pointing towards her wrist. He registered the slight facial twitch, almost as if she were fighting the instinct to pull from the brief pain before it disappeared. He filled the syringe before setting it down on the counter, instructing her to "hold still" as he moved back to the drawer to pull another out, repeating the process.

"You haven't frisked me," she said quietly. "Isn't that supposed to happen first?"

He snorted. "You've been compliant, despite being a smartass. It wasn't imperative like in other scenarios. And unless you want to be strip searched by a male officer..."

"Like I care one way or the other."

"Besides," he continues as he placed a gauze pad over the needle prick on her arm and wrapped the medical tape around it. "Given that Nile confiscated your blunts and pipe, I can assume that he already frisked you--the legality of that notwithstanding. Since you're fifteen, it's safe to assume that the most you still have on you is a wallet, and perhaps a set of house keys."

"And what if I have a concealed weapon?"

He snorted. "You gave Nile a bloody nose despite being ninety pounds at about 4'11". You don't have a concealed weapon. Now, if you're determined to be frisked a second time, or even strip searched, then by all means. When Elsa comes in she can do it. In the meantime," he pushed the cup into her hand, "piss in that , Miss "you have to do every test"."

"You're not very creative with names."

"And you're not very creative in accumulating charges."

"Touché," she muttered, half under her breath, and took the cup from him. "I just might surprise you though, so wouldn't you want a strip search done just in case? Nile wouldn't be pleased to know you let his assailant off without a strip search, yanno?" She smirked as she brushed past him.

Levi frowned. Normally, he wouldn't care about Nile's whining, but...something about how she'd said it... _That's odd... She once broke Nile's nose too..._ He shook himself mentally. If she was hellbent on being strip searched then so be it. He walked out into the main room just as Elsa Lieberman stumbled into the precinct. "You're late."

"Ah--oh, sorry, Levi! Rico'd needed my help..."

_That's a lie._ The girl was a horrible liar. Rico Brzenska would never willingly ask for help, maybe not even if she was dying. In a way, Levi could respect her for that. He'd much prefer for Rico to be here. She was young, not much older than Zoe herself, but she had the balls to take on just about anything. Zoe'd eat Elsa alive. "Got a strip search I need you to do," he said.

"Huh?" A panicked look crossed her face. "But..."

He tilted his head towards the bathroom, just as the brunette walked out. " She resisted arrest. Could be dangerous. Got to make sure she's not concealing anything. Mike and I can't search females."

The other officer whimpered, fumbling with a strand of blonde hair nervously. "O-okay. Come with me, miss," she stammered, motioning to the booking room as she went.

The raven took the cup from Zoe as she walked by and he could have swornshe looked amused that he'd called her "dangerous". He watched her disappear into the other room.

"Dangerous?" Mike laughed through his nose, a quirk Levi had forced himself to grow used to. "How is that tiny little thing dangerous? She's smaller than you. Hell, she's shorter than Petra..."

"She gave Nile a bloody nose."

"True. But he also jumped her. She was probably fighting on pure adrenaline," the blond argued. He was quiet for a moment and then, "Do _you_ think she's dangerous?"

Levi was silent for a moment. "I can control her."

Mike snorted. _Of course you'd completely ignore my question, Levi._

Not long after, the booking room door flew open and Elsa flew out, looking near tears as she barreled past her coworkers to barricade herself in her office. Both men glanced into the room to see the brunette adjusting her belt.

She looked up when she felt their eyes on her. "What?"

The raven's eyes narrowed at her innocent expression. "You know damn well what, Shitty Glasses." Mike snorted behind him and he pointedly ignored it. "Why?"

She shrugged and leaned back against the counter, crossing her arms over her chest again. "It's natural, I suppose."

Levi opened his mouth to answer, only to be interrupted by the phone. His cellphone. Why did it have to be his personal line and now of all times? He groaned and pulled out his phone. "Yeah, what is it?"

"Good, I caught you."

"The hell do you want, old man?" he said. "I'm at work. I've got a rather difficult--"

"Are you booking Miss Zoe Hange?"

"How do you do that?"

Erwin ignored him and continued speaking. "Don't put her in a cell."

"Wha?--"

"It's a special case. You trust me, right?"

"I trust you implicitly, Erwin."

The line clicked dead and Mike stared at him. "What was that?" he asked curiously.

"Dunno. Erwin said she's a 'special' case." Levi shrugged. He did trust Erwin. He was a bit eccentric, sure. But after years on the force it was understandable. And he'd stood by Levi through everything through the years. "Hey, Zoe. Come here."

"'Kay."

"Sit down," he said, motioning to a nearby chair.

"I'm not bein' put in a cell?"

"Consider yourself lucky, Four Eyes. Erwin sees something in you worth salvaging.

She shrugged and flopped down in the chair, pulling her jacket closer around her body. With a soft sigh, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, I take it her parents are comin' to pick her up?"

Zoe snorted. "Like hell they will. They'll be all too glad to get rid of me."

Levi sighed. _I know that feeling all too damn well..._ "Anyway, stay there, keep your mouth shut unless you need something, and--"

"In general leave you alone?"

"...right."

She shrugged and pulled her hood over her head, seemingly uncaring that she'd likely be spending the night in a chair.

_I didn't care back then either,_ the raven thought tiredly. _Anything is better than hell._ He moved back towards the booking room and packed all the samples into a box, carrying it back into the main room and setting it on Mike's desk. "This needs to go to the brass in Smith Center."

The blond glanced up from his report. "Neither of us can leave. I have reports to file, and cleaning up Nile's last screw up. Rico and Elsa are usually the runners. Plus, Erwin likely wants you to stay here with his new 'project', so--"

"Don't call her that," Levi said, interrupting him. "But you're right," he continued as his phone interrupted him and he read the text. "I'm not to leave the precinct until he gets here."

"Ah..." Mike seemed thoughtful for a moment before pushing his chair back and getting to his feet. "I'll go get Elsa." He walked off to her office, carrying the box carefully in front of him.

The raven sighed and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest. Normally, he couldn't care less about the teenagers that trickled through, and even less for the adults. But this girl...she _felt_ important. Like he was supposed to meet her. Erwin had said the same about him a long time ago.

Elsa bustled past him, rushing outside with the box in hand.

Mike strode back in and all but collapsed in his chair. "I don't know _how_ she passed the exams..."

"Most dangerous people look like they can physically hurt her. Zoe Hange is tiny and generally doesn't seem very threatening. Until she opens her mouth."

"True. Whereas you have a "don't fuck with me" aura, she just seems awkward and uncomfortable in her own skin," the blond replied.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't speak of me as if I don't exist," the brunette said quietly.

"And there's _her_ "I'll kill you if you fuck with me" vibe," Mike said, with a small laugh.

Levi could just barely see the flash of a smile under the shadow of the teenager's hood. _She's not actually angry_, he thought. _She's just establishing a line she refuses to let be crossed. But Mike picked up on that, how odd..._

A car pulled up outside the precinct and both men exchanged a look. There was no question who it was. Nile Dok drove like a bat out of hell. Erwin Smith walked through the door a few moments later.

"Levi, I'd like to speak with you in private."

Zoe looked over in curiosity, pulling her hood down to get a better view. She didn't know why, but the blond who'd just walked in looked, no _felt_ familiar. In the same way Levi and Mike did. In the same way Sasha had felt the first day she was allowed to hold her baby sister in her arms. They just felt _right_. She felt a little disappointed that she couldn't hear what they were saying, especially since it was about her. She sighed and leaned over onto the arm of the chair, folding her arms across the surface and resting her head on them. She'd just have to wait and see. Though, a small part of her couldn't deny she regretted leaving the way she did. _I miss her already..._

"So, what?" Levi said once they were out of ear shot. "What's so important about that girl?"

"Tell me, Levi," Erwin began slowly, before walking to the door and shutting, the disappointment clear on Zoe's face. "Does she seem familiar?" He tossed a file onto his desk.

The shorter man glanced between the file and his superior. He frowned slightly. Familiar? Why would she... "She was born the same day _she_ was..."

"You don't usually remember something as trivial as birthdays."

"The name is even the same. And her attitude."

Erwin laughed at that and motioned towards the file. "Read it."

Levi sighed and picked up he file, flicking through it. Minor torts, usually for rebellion, dated back as early as nine years old. The first record of drug use was just a year ago. That was the bulk of the nearly two hundred report file. Drugs, alcohol, possible gang involvement... "She's crying out for help," he said quietly. "And her parents are just ignoring it..."

"Sound familiar?"

It sounded _very_ familiar, actually. Looking at Zoe's file was like looking at his own record. But... "What? Are you thinking she's like me? That she's predisposed to psychological issues like I am?"

The taller man was silent for a long time before speaking again. "I've been asked to help her however I can," he said finally, walking around behind his desk and opening a drawer and sifting through its contents. "Because of that, I know that, should I not step in, she will fall into the system--"

"She'll end up killing herself if the state gets their fuckin' claws in her!"

The blond paused. "I know." He pulled out a paper and began scrawling something on it. After a few moments, he continued, "That's why I'm placing her on probation and putting her under your guardianship until her eighteenth birhday. I'm also expecting you to help her."

"Why?"

"Because you're the only one who can."

The words stumbled him mentally, at least momentarily. What use was he to anyone? He still struggled with his PTSD a decade and a half later. He was hopeless with people. And yet...he felt content around her. Right, even.

Erwin was looking at him intently. "Yeah, okay," he said finally, causing the blond to nod briefly. "Her probation will end on her eighteenth birthday," he continued. "That paperwork can be filed with Zackly tomorrow. However, guardianship--"

"Requires parental consent," Levi finished for him. He knew that. Erwin and his wife, Marie, had gotten guardianship of him years ago.

The taller man nodded again. "Yes, but Pixis feels it would be safest to take her to your house for the time being and we'll proceed under the belief that the papers are no more than legal representation of our decision."

"Yeah, whatever..."

"Levi?"

"What?"

"You're not complaining."

"Tch. You're my superior officer. What use will it do me to complain?"

One blond eyebrow rose in suspicion. "If you say so. You can go for the night. I'll stay."

"Whatever." The raven walked out of the office, snapping the door closed behind himself. "Oy, brat."

The brunette jumped, whether from the door or the unintentional edge to his voice Levi couldn't be sure. "Yessir?"

He frowned slightly at the slight slur to her words. "Get up. You're coming with me."

"...'kay," she mumbled in response, following him outside the precinct quietly.

"The hell's wrong with you?"

"I think--" She cut herself off as she bolted to the nearby bushes, retching behind them.

Levi found his lip curling slightly in disgust. She _had_ said she held her alcohol well until her body decided it was through with it. He walked to his car and pulled a kerchief. "Here," he said, walking over to her and putting it into her hand. "Wipe your mouth with that."

"'Kay," she replied, wiping her mouth briefly. "Guess it's a good thing it came out now..."

"Damn right it is. Don't want your filthy ass dirtying my car."

She smiled weakly--or was it tiredly? "I think it's all out of my system now."

"Well, come on. I've got Thanksgiving dinner ready."

"You're not going to eat with your family?" she asked as she climbed into the passenger side and buckled herself in.

"No." He didn't feel like elaborating and was grateful when she didn't keep pushing, instead leaning her head against the cool glass of the window. He put the keys into the ignition, after fastening his own belt, and cranked the car, pulling out of the parking lot. They drove in silence for some time before he broke the silence, voicing a thought that had been nagging him for most of the night. "You don't like being called Zoe." A blatant statement, but he knew.

She looked at him curiously, he could see it in his peripheral vision, quiet for a few moments before she said, very softly, "No...no, I don't."

"Hanji then? Spelled 'h-a-n-j-i' so people don't butcher it," he continued. He just barely caught the look of shock that flashed across her face.

"Y-yeah..."

She didn't willingly speak another word for the next quarter hour. When they reached his house, her jaw dropped briefly as she stared at it. He kept back a smirk as he allowed her to take it in as much as possible as he began setting the table and warming the dishes. He flicked the thermostat and nodded in satisfaction when the heating cut on. When the dishes were properly heated and set on the table, he left the oven door ajar to speed the heating of the kitchen and the adjoining dining room. There. That was done. He found Hanji browsing the shelves in his spare-room-turned-library and chuckled lightly. Always drawn to books like a moth to flames, he thought, only to wonder how he knew it.

She whirled around at the sound of his chuckle, her eyes slightly wide, like a child sure they'd be punished for something. "S-sorry, I--" she began to stammer.

"Dinner's ready," he said, cutting her off before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

She made her way down only a few moments later. Though she allowed Levi to fix her plate, pointing out the things she wanted, she pushed the food around her plate listlessly.

Levi ate his food slowly, giving her the space she was silently asking for. He'd nearly cleared his plate, with intentions of pulling out the pumpkin pie and vanilla ice cream for dessert, when she finally spoke, very softly.

"D'you... D'you ever feel like life's be better for everyone if you weren't around? That you've made so many failures...it'd best just to...end it?"

He sighed and set his fork down next to his plate. He took a sip of water, fully aware of her eyes on him, though in her defense she was extremely subtle about it. "I think, at one time, I did," he said thoughtfully. "But certain people have made me aware that I was wrong. Not that my feelings are invalid, because my feelings are always valid. But that the people who made me feel that way were wrong for doing so."

"Oh." She looked back down to her food, poking at it without much enthusiasm.

"You're not hungry, are you?"

"Dunno," she mumbled. "I mean, I am. But I'm tired too."

"Right." He pushed his chair back and got up from the table and walked out of the room. He picked the 3DS up off the shelf in his study before walking back to the dining room. "You like Zelda, right?"

"Well, I haven't played it much, but--"

He cut her off by placing the red handheld into her hands. "Just don't get it dirty."

He didn't think human eyes could get so wide as she squealed and squirmed, seemingly tickled pink as she opened the game and turned it on.

Levi smirked to himself. She was still eating, even an hour later, but at least she was eating. And surprisingly not making a mess as she balanced food and game with her attention. It wasn't until nearly ten-thirty, nearly two hours after she'd arrived, that she spoke again.

She was holding her now empty plate out to him, as him, as he was standing in front of the sink washing dishes, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand as she said "Hey, Levi?"

"Wash your face and hands before you touch my game again."

"Yeah, yeah. But where am I gonna sleep tonight?"

He frowned slightly. He hadn't thought of that. "Are you ready to go to bed?"

She stifled a yawn. "A little, yeah."

He sighed. "Alright. Follow me." He walked to the linen closet and pulled out a towel and wash cloth and set them on the bathroom sink counter. "You're welcome to use any of the bath things under the sink or in the shower. The guest toothbrush--the blue one in the plastic cup--is yours now." He paused to make sure she was following what he'd said, but she seemed to be waiting impatiently to get into shower. "Are you alright with a night gown? It's the only thing Petra left. It's clean, don't worry."

"Yeah, sure," she said, shrugging.

"I'll wash your clothes so you have something to wear tomorrow," he said, holding out his hand as she slipped out of her jacket.

"Alright," she said, handing him the jacket.

"I'll go get that night gown," he said, turning away as she made a sound of agreement.


	3. Chapter 3

She came padding into the dining room nearly an hour later, barefooted and toweling her hair dry. Levi glanced up and cringed visibly at how the nightgown fit her. It came down to her knees, thankfully, due to the few inches Petra had on her. But he could tell the brunette utterly despised how it hung on her frame. "We'll get you some better night clothes tomorrow."

"This is...fine," she mumbled, tugging the hem down. _Probably be better if I didn't hafta go commando,_ she thought tiredly.

He sighed and turned the water off, drying his hands. "What about your hair?"

She shrugged, yawning almost like a cat.

"Come here," he said, walking to the table and pulling a chair out. "Sit down and I'll comb it out. I've got a spare comb."

"Alright," she replied, plopping into the offered chair and resting her head on her folded arms on the table. She heard him come back into the room a few moments later.

"Lean your head back," he said, waiting for her to do so before running the comb through her hair, pausing when she winced as he ran into a tangle. "Did you even use any damn conditioner?"

"I did," she protested. "But my parents didn't exactly give much of a damn about more than making child services think they were taking care of their fucked up brat. Plus, my head's tender right now..."

He frowned. "He pulled your hair?"

She was avoiding looking at him by closing her eyes. "...yeah..." she mumbled.

"Fuckin' sonuva bitch..." He slammed the comb down on the table and she jumped. "Not you," he said. "We're always cleanin' up his bullshit. Don't know why the old man keeps him..." He continued ranting under his breath, replacing the comb with fingers that were surprisingly gentle as they worked through the knots until only the ragged ends of hair were frizzed out slightly. His frown darkened as he touched the tender spot on her scalp and his fingertips came away pinkish. "I swear to God..."

"What? What is it?"

"Hold still," he instructed her, walking off again. He came back with a bottle of peroxide, which he set on the table, and a paper towel. He opened the peroxide and dampened the paper towel. "This is gonna sting a little," he warned.

"I'm a big girl. I can hand--ah, FUCK!" she cried, kicking her feet. "Fuckfuckfuck."

"Okay, more than a little."

"Oh fuck you..."

He snorted. "I'm not into brats."

"Figure of--ngh. Figure of speech," she grumbled.

"I know." He closed the peroxide tightly. "We should have a doctor look at that tomorrow, but you should be good for tonight."

"Alright... So the guest room?"

"Yeah. If you want to read one of the books, you're welcome to."

"I might, if I can't sleep. Good night, Levi," she said, getting up and leaving the room with a small wave.

"Good night, Hanji."

~*~

She sighed and made her way up the stairs. _Sleep. As if. I rarely could sleep well when I wasn't alone._ She walked into the library, running her finger idly down the spines. _Maybe a boring one will knock me out. But if it's too boring I won't be able to read it at all... Ugh._ Her finger stopped on the spine of a well-worn book. _I didn't think Levi would read Eoin Colfer. Artemis Fowl is such a kids' series..._ She shrugged. It was better than nothing, after all. She slipped the book from the shelf and walked to the bedroom.

 _I hate sleeping in strange beds,_  she thought, staring at the bed in mild disgust. She sighed heavily. It did look warm. And even though the house was warm, the wooden floorboards were rather chilly beneath her bare feet. She crossed the room and climbed into the bed, pulling the covers up to her waist. It was so...big. And empty. She didn't like that. She took a steadying breath, letting it out in a sigh. It was going to be a long night...

~*~

Levi finished cleaning up the kitchen and dining room, drying the dishes and putting them away, wiping down the table and counter and sweeping the floor. When that was done, he took his shower, as always, before he stuck his head in on Hanji, finding the young brunette curled up in a ball with the covers drawn tight around her form. He sighed and closed the door, heading to his room.

~*~

The next morning at seven twenty-five, as always, he got out of bed...only to step on something warm that squeaked as his foot bumped against it. "What the--Hanji?"

She made a small snuffling noise and sat up, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Who the fuck gets up so early...oh, hey, Levi..."

"What are you doing on the floor by my bed?"

Her hands fell down into her lap. "The bed was just so...and I just..."

"Hanji, if you had a nightmare you could've come and got me."

"Just...this was enough. I didn't wanna disturb you."

He sighed, before patting a spot next to him on the mattress. When she climbed up next to him, hugging her knees to her chest, he said, "What did you used to do when you had nightmares before?"

"Sasha would get in bed with me..."

"Sasha?"

"She's my baby sister."

When she didn't seem to be sharing anymore, he rose to his feet. "Well, we should get started. We've got a lot to do today."

She nodded. "I'll go get dressed..." She climbed off the bed and left the room.

After Levi had dressed, he set about making breakfast. Normally, he would have just skipped breakfast entirely and gotten to work on his paperwork, but with a teenager around...well, it was better to be safe than sorry. He set the bacon and eggs on the table just as she came into the room her hair falling to her shoulders.

"You made breakfast?"

"Figured you might be hungry."

"Oh..."

"So, sit down and eat. We've got a lot to do today."

"I'm sorry, I'm not really hungry..." She was biting her lip, as if she were scared of disobeying.

"It's alright." He set the utensils down. "Come here, let me put up your hair."

"I-I can do it," she mumbled hurriedly, pulling the tie off of her wrist and pulling her hair into a quick ponytail.

"What happened?"

"Huh?"

"Last night you were a right little smartass. Now it's like you're scared of your own shadow. Are you still thinking about your bad dream?"

"...a little..." She wasn't looking at him, obviously conflicted.

He nodded, before gathering the dishes up and beginning to wash them. "You should try to eat something," he said after a while. "We're going to be very busy today and I don't know for sure when we'll be able to get lunch."

She sighed and fidgeted with her zipper. "I appreciate you making it, but... I really don't like bacon and eggs. Sorry."

"It's fine," he said, biting back his irritation. _Teenagers..._ "What do you want?"

She shrugged and looked away, fingers playing with the zipper pull.

He suppressed a sigh of exasperation. "I have breakfast burritos."

"I guess I could eat that..."

Finally. "They're in the freezer. Hurry up and eat."

"Okay..."

He noticed that, when she was speaking, her fingers were incessantly flipping the zipper pull. But with her hands busy fixing the burrito, she had her bottom lip nearly clamped between her teeth. He sighed quietly. It wasn't like he could just make her relax.

They ate in silence and when they were finished he washed the plates and set them in the dish drainer along with the now-clean silverware. "Come on."

Her only response was to give him a nod.

~*~

They'd made reasonable progress by midday and Levi was surprised to find he was slowly beginning to not be bothered by her quiet behavior. She was probably nothing more than a nervous wreck by that point. After all, who seeks out comfort only to curl up on the floor near the bed instead of waking them up?

It was nearing two thirty when they took a break from shopping to stop into a McDonald's. After learning from his mistake with breakfast, he said, "Would you like a Big Mac or Chicken McNuggets?"

She shrugged, but he caught her glance towards the nuggets before her eyes settled on the vanilla shake for no more than a few seconds before she looked away completely, her fingers setting a steady rhythm with her zipper.

"I'll have the Big Mac meal, large Sprite, large fries. And a large Chicken McNugget meal with a large vanilla shake." He pretended he didn't hear her embarrassed squeak behind him.

"You sho-- you didn't hafta," she mumbled as he brought the food over to the table a few minutes later.

"Look," he said, pausing to take a sip of his Sprite. "Maybe I didn't have to. But it's what you wanted."

Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment and she averted her eyes, mumbling about how her parents never did that.

"I'm not your parents. Eat your food. I need to drop by the precinct at three."

She nodded, cheeks still burning as she picked at her food.

He let her eat in peace for a few minutes as he finished his own meal. "Oh, you'll get to meet Rico."

She looked up, drinking her milkshake slowly.

"She's my coworker," he said, reading her confusion easily.

She nodded and looked back down.

"Are you done? You can bring your milkshake with you."

She paused a moment, before nodding again.

~*~

She was going to chew that straw to shreds, he just knew it.

Even when she wasn't drinking, and she seemed intent on making the milkshake last as long as possible, the straw stayed between her lips and Levi could just make out the nervous movements of her jaw.

"Oi, Rico," he called, leaning back against the wall near the door. _Mike must be on patrol..._

A head of silvery blonde hair stuck out of a nearby office, its owner adjusting their glasses in front of sky blue eyes. "Oh! Levi! Is this Hanji?"

The squeak beside him was proof she didn't expect this stranger to respect her preferences.

But Rico seemed to understand faster than Levi, as a small, gentle smile spread across her face. "You don't have to be nervous around us. We're just huge dorks. I mean, have you seen Levi's library? He says they're for Isabel, but I rarely see Isabel even touch a book let alone _read_ one."

Hanji found she couldn't help herself. The laughter bubbled out of her until she'd slid down to the floor clutching her stomach and struggling to catch her breath. When it finally subsided, she's still breathing hard, and her cheeks were burning again, but she smiled up at Levi and said "I like her."


End file.
